“Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience” (1 Timothy 3:8-9).

All of those who serve in the church ought to seek to be of the same high standard that is spoken of here.  Are we not all called to seek to conform to the image of Christ?  Is this not what Scripture says will happen for those who live by faith?  What then?  Only this: seek to apply these things to your life also as you expect them of others.  Become what you want your neighbor to be.

Lord, help me to be equitable such that if I have an expectation of another, I will hold the same expectation for myself.  Lead me to know that in You I am more than able to do these things.  Guide me, O Lord, in order that I may always look to You as the ultimate example and follow Your lead,  Through all of these things, continue to conform me to Your perfect image.

Lord Jesus, You taught Your disciples each and every day.  You did not settle for their behavior as it was, but continued to mold and shape them to become what they needed to become.  Do the same with me so that I would be conformed to whatever image You so deem right and fitting.  Guide me in order that I would never settle for anything less.  Through all these things, grow me into a leader who walks with You always.  Amen.

“And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil” (1 Timothy 3:7).

A decent person.  Is that not what we should all strive to be?  Yet, we often fall into the trap of seeing others as like us and do not see them as they are.  If you have someone decent serving you, give thanks.  It really is that simple.  Be guided by an attitude of charity and do not be critical like the world.  The Lord loves everyone and He calls for us to love everyone too.  If your servant has a good reputation, then be thankful.

Lord, help me to live my life in such a way that I would be seen as a decent person.  Let me not be caught up in the insanity of this world’s constant demands for attention, but instead humbly serve You by serving others.  Let me not think of position or status but think in terms of being faithful.  Guide me, Lord, in the way You know I need to go.  Lead me according to Your will always.

Lord Jesus, even those who wanted to kill You respected that You were someone to be reckoned with.  You held Your ground and dealt with all who approached You.  You have given the example of how to act in so many circumstances.  Guide me, Lord, today and every day to do what is right in the Father’s sight.  Lead me to learn how to always be humble, faithful, and gracious.  Amen.

“He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity” (1 Timothy 3:4)

The first thing to always remember is that no one is perfect except Jesus.  The rest of us need a Savior and we have one in Him.  So, this is not a law whereby the leader must be perfect, but an admonition whereby the leader must be one who keeps his household well.  Subjective, yes, but just about every reasonable person knows the line.  The real issue is about balance which was in the previous verse.

Lord, I have no control over anyone, children included.  Good people come from bad stock and bad people come from good stock.  That is not what this is saying.  I believe what You are saying is that we should raise children in the intent of the  verse’s direction, praying our children go with You.  Yet. The way they go is the way they go.  You ask that I allow Your Holy Spirit to work on me in and through all things.

Lord Jesus, I do need help.  By every measure there are so many ways in which I could say I have failed.  Yet in You there is the promise that You will see that it works to good.  Grant me faith to trust always in Your leading and go where You would have me go.  Guide me, Lord, in the way of everlasting life so that I may now and always humbly abide in Your salvation and seek to always do my best.  Amen.

“An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money: (1 Timothy 3:2-3).

Well-seasoned and reasonable: how many ways does it say what type of person an overseer ought to be?  How strange that so many treat their overseer as just another regular person.  If they truly embody these things, think of what it takes to remain temperate and balanced in the face of those who are anything but these things.  This is a trustworthy list and you do well to look through this lens in making determinations.

Lord, I often go with the culture and do not give a second thought to the reality of what needs to happen for a fellowship to be healthy and whole.  Lead me Lord to apply Your word to the reality I live in and see things through Your eyes.  Guide me, Lord, in the way You know I need to live so that I may now and always abide in You and You in me.  Thank You for giving wise advice.

Lord Jesus, You are all of these things and more.  If I am to become like You – as Your Word says I shall – then teach me these things so that they will not just be the qualifications of others, but mine as well. Guide me in the way of everlasting life and teach me to live as You would have me live.  Teach me the cardinal virtues; prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance and how to live by them in private, public, and all the time.  Amen.

“It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do” (1 Timothy 3:1).

There is honor for the one who is called to oversee a fellowship.  It is fine work, but it is difficult work, for the overseer is not the one served, but the servant of all.  Called to be a vicar of Christ in place, look at the mystery. It is true of all things in faith: look at the mystery.  God appoints and then His will is revealed.  Live into the life to which You have been called in faith and honor those whom God chooses for His servants.

Lord, there is much mystery in life and I often just ignore these things and go on as if nothing is different.  Let me not be this way.  Help me to honor who should be honored.  Help me to be guided by Your goodness and grace to see those mysterious things that You are constantly doing.  Teach me how to honor those whom You choose and do my part in this world according to Your will.

Lord Jesus, You have come so that I may have life and have it abundantly.  Guide me to take the place You have for me.  Lead me to honor those whom You have chosen.  In and through all things, teach me to rejoice and honor all those in authority knowing that Your hand is upon all things.  In You and for those who love You, it will all work to good.  Help me to accept that even if I do not fully understand.  Amen.

“But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint” (1 Timothy 2:15).

Are we all not preserved when we are whom the Lord has made us to be?  We live in an age which tries to tell us that we can be what we want to be, but We are only whom we are.  Live the life the Lord has given you and do not seek to do what you cannot.  Live fully, yes, but listen to the Lord and not to the world.  Be guided by the One who made you and not those who pretend that they made themselves.

Lord, help me to see through all of the nonsense of this world.  Guide me in Your goodness to know that in You alone is all hope.  You have come so that we may have life and have it abundantly.  Teach me more about who You have made me to be and help me to live with who I am.  Help me sift through all of the contradictory things that are floating in my mind that confuse and distort.

In You alone Christ Jesus do I find who I truly am.  Guide me in the way of salvation in order that I would now and forever live the life which You have given me.  You know whom You have made me to be and You alone know what I shall be.  Meanwhile, help me to conform my life to You and grow in the grace and mercy that You have given me.  Through You I can and do all things, have life, and the fulness of my being.  Amen.

“For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.  And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1 Timothy 2:13-14).

Perhaps the most direct way to deal with these words is to question how much our culture hates them.  This is not to reintroduce the gross inequities sinners have created because of them, but to look with sadness at how the simple truth of the difference that God created in the sexes are ignored.  We are God’s creation and He has made us as He has made us.  We are whom we are.

Lord, help me to see where I listen to the world and where I ignore what Your Word says.  Help me to always look at every other person as one created in Your image.  Guide me in Your goodness to know that in You and You alone is all hope.  Keep my eyes upon You and my ears listening to what You say.  Guide me, O Lord, always in the way of truth so that I may abide in You and You in me.

Lord Jesus, You have come to lead the way into all truth.  You have reasons as to why these things are the way they are.  Help me to look to You and not to the world to guide me in the way of truth.  In and through all things, lead me always Lord in the way of everlasting life.  May I be close to You now and forever and live according to Your Word not only outwardly, but inwardly as well.  Amen.

“But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet” (1 Timothy 2:12).

If this is from the Lord, then it does not matter whether or not you like it, or agree with it.  If it is from Paul, then you and I may disagree and change how we do things.  The pivotal thing is whether or not it is from God.  Re-read Job, especially chapter thirty-eight and following.  We are not in a position to disagree with the Lord.  What is the way you will go on this?

Lord, there are so many things like this that go against what society is saying, Help me to be discerning so that I may know the difference between what a fellow sojourner believes and what You declare.  Bring me to err on the side of caution in order that I may learn to do whatever is needed whether or not I like it.  In all things, teach me to look to You, the One who created all things.

Lord Jesus, You have taught us by example to look to the Father for all things.  You have taught us that even when it is something difficult, like when You asked if the cup could pass from you, You simply relinquished Your will for the Father’s will.  Help me to learn from these things so that in all things I would look to You and follow where You lead.  Guide me, Lord, now and forever.  Amen.

“A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness” (1 Timothy 2:11).

Is Paul speaking of a specific situation, or in general?  The church has taken this line and held fast to this rule.  What is important is for you and me, who are not in a position to argue the case, to look and see why the Lord would have a certain thing in this place.  Especially in these days where people are ‘choosing’ their identity, is there something here that is useful for us to understand about God’s creation?

Lord, You have made things as they are.  You set everything in its place and have created the order of things.  It’s a funny thing, but people like to think they are the exception and do not need to follow the rules.  Help me to see through this common response to the constraints on life so that I may be one who lives by wisdom and not according to the rebellious way of the world.

Lord Jesus, You have come to free us from the insanity of this world.  Generation after generation thinks they can do things their own way.  It always ends in ruin.  Help me to follow You wherever You lead so that I may be guided by the order that You have created and follow as you meant for these things to be followed from the beginning.  Lead me, Lord, in the way You know I need to go, accepting what is right whether I like it or not.  Amen.

“Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness” (1 Timothy 2:9-10).

Men are men and women are women.  That does not change because we each are what God created us to be.  Listen to the admonition for temperance and prudence.  Women know what entices men.  Do not dress to entice.  Men, train your eyes to have them where they belong.  If you have means, do not boast.  In all things do not point to yourself, but to the One who has redeemed you.

Lord, there are lines of common sense and dignity that the culture in which I lives constantly crosses.  Teach me chastity and modesty that I would neither offend others, nor entice them to break any of the commandments.  Teach me to care for the other as You have cared for me.  Guide me into the deeper understanding of living out the faith that I may become more like You.

Lord Jesus, You created each of us to be whom we are.  Teach me Lord to see through the nonsense of this world and its constant use of sensuality.  Let me not fall for this ancient ploy of the wicked one, but see through it and not go astray.  Guide me Lord in the way of holiness so that I may journey upon the road less traveled.  In all things, guide me to trust in You and the grace You give which is more than sufficient.  Amen.